Both clubs played a total of eight games in four stages to advance to the final. Chelsea had the upper hand in all but one of their encounters, defeating Tromsø with an accumulative score of 9–4 in a two-legged match and edging Vicenza by one goal. Stuttgart also enjoyed advantage in all but two of their meetings, beating ÍBV 5–2 on aggregate and winning over Slavia Prague and Lokomotiv Moscow by two goals.

30,216 were in attendance to witness Chelsea win the match 1–0, after Gianfranco Zola scored the winning goal in the second half. As a result, the English club claimed the double, after previously winning the League Cup earlier during the campaign, and also the Cup Winners' Cup for the second time since 1971, thus gaining qualification for the 1998 UEFA Super Cup.

In the quarter-finals, Slavia Prague were Stuttgart's next opponents.[21] The away leg at Stadion Evžena Rošického ended in a 1–1 draw following a Poschner goal.[22] Back on German soil, Stuttgart won 2–0 after Krasimir Balakov scored two goals, giving them a 3–1 overall win.[23] In the semi-finals, Stuttgart were drawn against Lokomotiv Moscow.[24] The first home leg ended 2–1 to the German side, with Bobic finding the winning goal late; the first was netted by Akpoborie.[25] At Lokomotiv Stadium, Bobic once again managed to score, during the first half, which proved to be decisive as Stuttgart won 1–0 and the concluding tie 3–1 to proceed to the final.[26]

Chelsea and Stuttgart faced each other for the first time in European football.[35] The English side were appearing in their second Cup Winners' Cup final, having won the tournament in 1971,[36] while Stuttgart made their debut.[37] Chelsea had met German clubs once, in the 1965–66 season of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup against 1860 Munich[38] — Chelsea advanced to the next round after managing a 2–2 stalemate at the Grünwalder Stadion,[39] and a 1–0 home win.[40]

Stuttgart had been pitted against English clubs on two meetings of the same competition, the former over Burnley in the following season.[38] The Germans were knocked out in the opening stage, after being held 1–1, in the first game at Neckarstadion,[41] before following up with a 0–2 loss at Turf Moor.[42] The latter was opposite Leeds United, in the 1992–93 season of the UEFA Champions League;[43] the club saw themselves be eliminated in the same fashion, as they won 3–0 at home,[44] before losing the second leg 4–1.[45] However, Leeds were awarded an automatic 3–0 win, after Stuttgart were found to have fielded an ineligible player.[46] A play-off in Camp Nou was required to decide the round,[47] which Stuttgart fell with 1–2.[48]

Both teams were each given 12,000 tickets[49] – the remaining 6,000 tickets were released, for purchase to the Swedish people.[50] However, Stuttgart decided to send 11,000 of their 12,000 tickets back to UEFA, due to the German club's supporters finding it difficult to make their way to the country, as well as the absence of air flights available.[49] Subsequently, none of the unsold tickets were granted for Chelsea and its followers;[51] the consequences proved worse, when the side announced that they had issued tickets alone for those, who had ordered the more higher-priced package.[52]

Adidas Tricolore was the match ball of the final.[61] It was the sixteenth edition in the Adidas football series; the name "Tricolore" translates to "three-coloured" and contains a tricolour crest and a cockerel, along with French classic themes which were used as influences, for the ball's construction, to illustrate the nation's flag.[62] The Tricolore became the first ball available in different colours and was later introduced at that year's World Cup.[62] It was the last ball to carry the vintage Tango layout.[63]

Stefano Braschi from the Italian Football Federation, was appointed to officiate the final,[64] making it his first time to decide a closing match in a European contest.[65] He was regonised as a professional Serie A referee in 1992.[66] The Italian took charge of his first European fixture in a 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup group stage meeting between Lierse and Groningen.[65][67] The same year, Braschi made FIFA's international referees list;[68] he debuted in February 1997 in a Israel–Germany friendly.[69] Before the final, he had been the match official in four Champions League and two UEFA Cup games (counting one qualifier), as well as four international friendlies.[65] Braschi was accompanied by an all-Italian team which consisted of assistant referees Gennaro Mazzei and Pietro Contente – the fourth official was unveiled as Livio Bazzoli.[64]

The final was screened in 144 countries worldwide, with over 250 million viewers expected to follow the game.[60] In the United Kingdom, the event was covered by BBC One,[70] after winning the television rights over Channel 5.[71] In German television, ARD were committed to the final;[72][73] viewer figures were reported to be an estimate 8.9 million.[74] In Sweden, SVT1 and SVT2, the two channels of the television network Sveriges Television, jointly televised the match.[75][76]

Chelsea's goalscoring chance came in the fifth minute when Poyet found Di Matteo, who fumbled his opportunity as it went over the goal.[85] Stuttgart almost took the lead through Bobic, who took advantage of Steve Clarke's poor clearance but Bobic's attempt went just past the right goalpost.[86] The Germans continued to push forward, as Balakov had a chance on goal, after being found by Poschner, but his shot was kept out by Ed de Goey to mark the first save of the match.[85] Chelsea held on however; a few minutes later, Poyet ran towards the ball to direct a powerful volley on goal following a weak clearing header from Berthold, but a well-placed Franz Wohlfahrt dived to read the attempt.[86] Chelsea had another chance before half time, which saw Wise from a Di Matteo free kick launch another volley, with the successive effort going just off the target.[85]

Prior to the first half, Chelsea continued to dominate possession and round-up more opportunities – the ball was given to Wise, after cooperation between Petrescu and Vialli, whose shot went just across the left goal.[87] It did not take long, before Granville generated another endeavor for Chelsea to make Wohlfahrt throw himself to the right in order to prevent the shot.[85] The club made its first substitute change in the 71st minute, which saw Flo being replaced by Zola.[86] He made an effect immediately, picking up the ball after a well-timed pass by Wise, and finishing with a half volley in the penalty box, past Wohlfahrt, which found its way straight in the top right corner.[87][88] As the match went on, Petrescu was ejected for an illegal tackle on Yakin.[85] It did not affect Chelsea as Stuttgart failed to produce anything to turn the final in their favour.[86] Stuttgart's situation proved worse when they were also reduced to ten men, as Poschner was discarded after quarrels with referee Braschi.[85][89]

Following Chelsea's victory, player-manager Vialli was satisfied with his club's performance, commending the substitution of Zola by assistant manager Graham Rix: "He decided he had a feeling and he was right".[86] Vialli also praised Zola, but felt that the honours had to be shared by all the players including Vialli himself, who took part in the match: "It was a great first touch – he put the ball in the net and we won the cup. But the credit has to be shared between all the chaps – and I am over the moon."[87] The Italian further added that their goal now was to win the league championship: "The next step will be the Premier League, fingers crossed. I am still the player-manager and I have to be one next season. We are very happy to win, but we do not want to stop here. We want to keep improving and next season we will start trying to win the Premier League, which is our aim now."[87]

Zola himself was happy with his achievements to the Chelsea side, but when asked if his substitution was all projected, he denied it, stating: "It wasn't planned. In the moment, I used my positive strength and I got a reward for the passion, the work not only I, but the masseur Mimmo Pezza did together in Rimini. The injury should take one month to heal, Mimmo Pezza helped me be fit in less than half that. I thank this man for a beautiful moment which will be in my heart for as long as I can remember."[84] Chelsea's glory meant Aston Villa gained a place in the 1998–99 UEFA Cup.[85][87]

Stuttgart manager Joachim Löw was disappointed with the defeat, but remained confident about his future at the team, as well as the season: "I'm calmly looking forward to the discussion. The club has to approach me. I have a contract until 1999. There must be some tough words. For me, the season has been positive".[91] His word was also shared by Bobic who felt that his team were treated unfairly to the goal, also taking time to defend Löw: "We need to talk about mistakes and learn from them, it does not mean that it is necessary to change the manager". He added: "It is bitter to lose by such a goal".[91] However, Verlaat dissented, and criticised Stuttgart's campaign: "The club has to make up its mind finally. We could have done better this season. We carelessly squandered about eight games".[91] Yakin agreed and offered his own comments: "You have to talk about many things, you cannot work together in the way it was this year."[91]